Aethalida owadai floresiensis Spitsyn & I. Bolotov, 2016

Spitsyn, Vitaly M., Bolotov, Ivan N., Gofarov, Mikhail Y. & Bolotov, Nikita I., 2016, First record of the genus Aethalida Walker, 1865 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) from Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, Ecologica Montenegrina 6, pp. 56-60 : 57-59

Aethalida owadai floresiensis Spitsyn & I. Bolotov ssp. n.

( Figures 1–4)

Holotype: 1♂, RMBH, voucher no. Sph 0680.

Type locality: Indonesia, East Nusa Tenggara , Flores Island: shore of Lake Sano Nggoang , 8°42’33.50”S, 119°59’51.0”E, local collector leg .

Etymology: Named after Flores Island, the type locality of the species.

Description: Male morphology and markings. Total body length is 19 mm, the forewing length is 20 mm, and the wing expanse is 41 mm. The wings are painted in gray-brown color. The forewings have two round spots, the first spot is located in the center of the costal margin, and the second spot is located at the base of the wing. Additionally, there are a number of irregular-shaped spots at the apex of the wing, which extends to the M 2 vein. The hindwings have a lighter shade than the forewings. The inner margin of the hindwing is marked with pink, but the costal margin has a yellow-pink coloration. There are a series of small pink spots along the outer margin of the hindwing. On the ventral side can be seen the same marking pattern as that of the dorsal side. The eyes are dark black. Antennae are pale pink. The clypeus is painted with a dark brown; epicranium has a pale brown coloration. Patagium is colored with white and marked by a black spot in the middle. A collar is also white with a pink border, marked by a black spot in the middle. The dorsal side of the thorax is white and it has a number of black spots. The hindmost group of spots is divided with T-shaped pink mark. Abdomen is pink dorsally, with three rows of black spots. Male genitalia. Valve is curved in the middle; it tapers from the base to the middle and becomes narrow at the distal part. Lateral lobes of vinculum are wide. Juxta is cup-shaped, very broad. The uncus forms a rhombus with slightly rounded corners. Phallus has a sclerotized area in the apical part.

Diagnosis. A newly reported subspecies from West Flores shows differences in the male genitalia comparing to the nominative subspecies, A. owadai owadai . The main difference is presented in valve structure, as valve is wider at the distal part, curved in its middle for A. owadai floresiensis ssp. n. comparing to A. owadai owadai , which has almost straight valves with narrow distal part. The uncus in the new subspecies is wider, while all corners are slightly rounded. Additionally, the uncus surface is less sclerotized in its base for A. owadai floresiensis ssp. n. The phallus in the specimen from Flores Island is shorter and thickened, with a sclerotized area on the surface of its apical part, while A. owadai owadai has very weak apical sclerotization. The new subspecies does not have a noticeable outgrowth on the curve of the phallus, which is a typical feature of A. owadai owadai . With respect to the markings pattern, white spots on the apical part of the A. owadai floresiensis ssp. n. forewing are arranged up to vein M 2. By contrast, white spots at the apex of the A. owadai owadai forewing are arranged only to vein M 1 ( Dubatolov and Kishida 2005). Finally, the abdomen of the specimen from Flores Island is pink dorsally, with three rows of black spots, while the abdomen of the nominative subspecies from Selayar Island is pink with broad longitudinal brown stripe in proximal part, which narrows in distal part.

Distribution: West Flores; only known from the type locality.

Habitat: The holotype was collected in secondary mountain forest with old nutmeg trees on a hill slope on 665 m above sea level (21–22.i.2015).